CULTURE
NO MORE
MR NICE GUY
In 2016, it looks
as if it’s good to
be bad

FILM
Suicide Squad
Broken Bones:
“I think they were
after your new
smartwatch, Spock”

FILM

BOLDLY GOING
INTO THE FUTURE

As Star Trek celebrates 50 years with a new
movie, Dr ‘Bones’ McCoy, aka Karl Urban,
discusses the franchise’s positive vital signs
How has Star Trek survived five decades?
There’s excitement and adventure, and it has retained some of
the sex appeal and swagger of the original series. But I think the
appeal is what it stands for in terms of humanity. Mankind has
evolved beyond warring, genocide and persecution, and has joined
together to explore space. It’s a very positive vision of the future.
That’s one of Star Trek’s rare qualities. Movies usually
portray a darker future, as you did in Dredd...
Unfortunately, I feel the dystopian future represented in Dredd
[Urban played the titular role] is closer to where the human race
is currently heading. But I’m not giving up hope.
Classic Bones – always the optimist. How essential do you
think these characters are to its enduring appeal?
I have a deep admiration and respect for what the late, great
DeForest Kelley did so successfully for 30 years, so it’s
important to me to retain an essence of that. But, at the same
time, I very much feel I’ve taken ownership of the character.
Talking of changing ownership, action director Justin Lin is
now onboard. What has he brought to the captain’s chair?
It’s a world that [previous director] JJ Abrams established, and
there’s continuity in the visual style, but Justin brings a longstanding love for Star Trek and the characters. He gets the
archetypes, understands the complexities, and was able to
elevate the material and evolve those relationships to a point
where you feel there’s a richness and depth that’s earned.
Sounds like it’s in good hands. So, where do you see
Star Trek in another 50 years’ time?
Damn it, man – I’m an actor, not a fortune teller!
Star Trek Beyond is out on July 22. startrekmovie.com

82

STRANGE NEW
WORLDS

After the squabbling among Marvel and
DC’s good guys in Batman v Superman:
Dawn Of Justice and Captain America:
Civil War, the spotlight now falls on
Suicide Squad, about a group of villains
recruited to carry out messy missions
for the government. In cinemas from
August 5. suicidesquad.com

Movies that go where
no film has gone before…

Star Trek Beyond (2016)
Part of the latest instalment
in the franchise was filmed in
a new panoramic, triple-screen
format called Barco Escape.
Find a cinema with the right
projection set-up (currently
only in the US, Mexico and
Belgium) and watch the bridge
of the Enterprise under attack
in super-immersive widescreen.
The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
While this wasn’t the first movie
to use Technicolor, Dorothy
arriving over the rainbow wowed
audiences and won over studios
sceptical about abandoning
black-and-white film.
Interstellar (2014)
Director Christopher Nolan
is a cinema traditionalist, but,
to promote his space odyssey,
a VR experience was created for
Oculus Rift, allowing fans to fly
aboard the film’s ship, float in
Zero-G, and enter a black hole.

TV
Treacherous telly
Game of Thrones season six has
departed, leaving a trail of blood and
treachery. You only need to check the
TV listings to see its influence: Vikings
and Black Sails embrace that old-world
aesthetic, while the BBC’s Peaky
Blinders and Netflix’s House Of Cards
indulge us in tales of ill-gotten power.

COMIC
The Dark Knight III:
The Master Race
In 1986, Frank Miller’s gritty reinvention
of Batman in the comic The Dark Knight
Returns shaped the moodier world of
superheroes we take now for granted.
This third series reminds us why a
darker Dark Knight is so compelling.